Mandela's wife to world: 'Our gratitude is difficult to express'

Graca Machel, wife of former president Nelson Mandela, pictured last week, issued a statement thanking people in South Africa and the world for their messages of support for her husband.

By Ian Johnston, Staff Writer, NBC News

Nelson Mandela’s wife Graca Machel thanked the world Monday for messages of support for her husband as he continued to be treated for a lung infection in hospital.

In a statement, Machel said that “so much love and generosity from South Africans, Africans across the continent, and thousands more from across the world, have come our way to lighten the burden of anxiety; bringing us love, comfort and hope.”

“The messages have come by letter, by SMS, by phone, by twitter, by Facebook, by email, cards, flowers and the human voice, in particular the voices of children in schools or singing outside our home,” she said. “We have felt the closeness of the world and the deepest meaning of strength and peace.”